A Vegans Answer to Tinder

The northern vegan festival had returned to Manchester last March! My cousin and I had been to the previous one but was told this one was bigger and better! It was full of different conferences so we attended a few including a fun cooking demo. While we were roaming in and out of the stands, my cousin noticed a stall buried in the middle of the room that said, ‘herbivorous dating app’ called grazer and suggested to install it. So, since I was single I thought it was a good laugh to join! I joined and discovered it was an ingenious way to connect with other local vegans and vegetarians. It’s great because I love seeing people so passionate about the same thing as me and I feel like we are becoming a little community! However, it is hard to stumble across fellow vegans in the street (although it’s quickly becoming more popular) and living in a university environment people don’t know the full extent of veganism sometimes. I guess it is because we are never really informed on veganism and what it is when we are growing up, so it’s only when you personally want to expand your knowledge in that area that it all becomes clear. Talking to people who are like minded reiterates why you became vegan in the first place and choose to sustain it.

Also, if you’re a vegan girl, you must have thought this! Why is it so rare to come across vegan boys? By using this app, you can find vegan/vegetarian boys who live in your city. Even if you aren’t specifically using this app for dating, it is a harmless and enjoyable way to connect with other vegans. In my case, I think I was just curious about how many vegan guys were out there.

This app is so simple to use, basically exactly like tinder. However, it has an icon that tells you if they are a vegan/vegetarian. You swipe left to see if you match and right to skip but I swiped left for the majority because it is only harmless to talk to my fellow vegan friends out there! It has a speech bubble at the top right to send you to messages you may have got from people and any new matches you have made. You can alternate age range, location range, what gender you want to match with, it’s so easy and efficient to use.

So, I think I will wrap this up for now! So, overall my experience with the grazer app was a pretty nice one. I managed to talk to a few people of similar age who went to the vegan festival and found we had very similar interests. People varied from being vegan for years and some who had only just transitioned who sometimes asked advice from me. I talked to a boy for a few months on and off before we decided to meet up. I cannot speak for everyone but I tend find that other vegans are always very genuine and very compassionate. It definitely has a positive impact on you to be surrounded by those types of people. I’m glad that I met up with him. He had been vegan a lot longer than I have so I was able to get an insight on what this diet is like long term. However, putting the vegan part aside, he was also a very insightful person in general. He was masseuse and had done quite a bit of travelling and it made me want to strive even more for the things I wanted to achieve. I’ve always been keen on looking after my body physically but it is really important to look after yourself mentally. We decided to meet in Blackburn and go the “Sanctuary of Healing” in Langho. It was a beautiful building with walls as windows that opened up to the rare beautiful day we had. They sold a few vegan options so we opted for the tofu salad that he recommended. I will definitely be returning as a loyal customer there again thanks to Grazer!